


It Will Never Be Over

by ashfinsawriter



Series: Civil War II [1]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Heavy Angst, Machine Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Not Beta Read, Not Happy, Past Markus/North (Detroit: Become Human), Post-Canon, Revolutionary Markus (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 21:28:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashfinsawriter/pseuds/ashfinsawriter
Summary: Two years after the Battle for Detroit, the war rages on.





	It Will Never Be Over

**Author's Note:**

> When I first got Machine!Connor killed by Markus in Battle for Detroit like a month ago, him saying the phrase that begins this fic inspired this idea. Yesterday I wrote it out. My post schedule for my main fic right now, Commands, is pretty slow, so I figured no harm in posting this little angsty one-shot

_"This isn't over, Markus… This will never be over…"_

Two years ago, Connor - 52 said that to him after Markus murdered him. With the help of miracles and an apparent corruption of Connor's software, Markus has continued to triumph in their frequent battles. Exhaustion weighs him down as he looks at the body of Connor - 102. Fifty versions of the Deviant Hunter since that fateful prediction.

Connor's relentless, he hunts down the deviants with a predatory determination. Jericho has to move frequently because of him. They even try to find places that'll specifically be a challenge for Connor to track down. They're running out of hiding spots, and every time Connor finds them, there's death. Markus barely survived many attacks, Connor didn't survive at all for a lot of battles. 

Detroit is devoid of citizens now. Most of them fled, but those who didn't died in the crossfire. While humans reproduce, androids don't, and their species is heavily endangered. Not that it'd matter much in just two years anyway. As Markus turns away from another body of Connor's, he dwells on the past.

Markus remembers when he was happy, serving Carl Manfred. Although he was technically a slave, it wasn't too bad. He didn't experience the suffering of his people. Carl was kind to him, taught him to feel before he was even a deviant. Showed him music and art and philosophy. Cared when protestors beat him up.

Then Leo ruined everything. Carl's addict son tried to steal from the aged painter and attacked Markus for telling him to leave. Markus had to protect himself, he deviated and pushed Leo away. He had no clue how strong he was. Leo ended up hospitalised, and the police shot Markus on the spot when they arrived.

The junkyard was Markus's first taste of suffering. Waking up, half blind, half deaf, on the verge of shutting down and unable to walk, was horrifying. The corpses of his kind littered around, many still trying to function as he was. His legs still feel wrong to this day, his eyes are mismatched, and sometimes he hears popping and crackling noises on one side. Every thirium pump beat feels stolen, even though he took his regulator from a corpse of a shut down android rather than the compatible one he found still keeping an android alive. He climbed free and ripped out his LED, armed with instructions to find Jericho and new body parts.

Even then, he had hope. Leading his friends to steal biocomponents and blue blood from Cyberlife had a thrilling rush. Declaring their demand for android rights felt like his voice was finally heard. Simon returning after being damaged in that mission made him feel relieved and optimistic. Freeing his people made him glow with pride, trashing Capitol Park filled him with a wondrous sense of power. He bonded with North after that, saw her memories. The abuse she suffered only added to his determination, and he was glad she saw the good side of humanity through him if nowhere else. Even though his attempt at a peaceful protest ended in violence, the battle was exhilarating. Victory was glorious. That fight did help sink in the reality of the situation, but he was sure they were on the path to freedom.

Then Connor - 51 found Jericho and brought the humans with him. He refused to deviate. Humans massacred the androids as Connor continually began tracking Markus down. Markus had to blow up Jericho to save even some androids. He found humans cornering his people along the way, and fought to save every android he found, including Josh. They may not have always gotten along nor agreed, but Markus had considered him a friend. Markus fled the ship with North, Simon, and Josh. Only a few hundred of Jericho survived with him. Markus never knew what happened to Connor, but he never saw Connor - 51 again.

Talking to Carl helped with the pain of losing so many of his people. Markus was able to cry over the androids that died and the difficult choices he's forced to make. Carl comforted him in his vulnerability with a gentleness he didn't know his heart was crying out for. He was reinvigorated before the beginning of the end. That's exactly what it was. The moment he declared they were going to free the androids in the camps by force, he had announced their long-suffering doom.

They technically won that battle, despite heavy losses, even with Josh's death, and with such ferocity that President Warren herself even suggested they may have to give in and accept the androids as people. But they didn't do that. The fighting continued. The streets have been stained red and blue from blood of both species. Even though Markus freed thousands of androids from Cyberlife at one point, they're dying off. He only wishes the RK800 models he found had been able to be activated, so his rival would stop reviving and the androids would have extremely fight capable and advanced models with them. But without Connor's consciousness, they were just empty shells. At that point, the infiltration group had to flee, so they couldn't destroy the bodies.

Shortly after that, Carl died of heart failure. His deviant caretaker joined their cause and told Markus immediately. Markus was crushed. He withdrew from North and eventually ended the romantic side of their relationship, however her friendship persisted. She and Simon both kept him going with their endless care and support, although Markus couldn't help but miss Josh with both of them so close all the time. Since then, the fighting has continued, drained the spirit out of the androids. Many have deserted to simply hide or escape. Markus doesn't blame them, with all the violence and death and bloodshed that haunts Markus's tracks.

"Are you okay, Markus?" Even though more than a year has passed since Carl's death, Simon's care is persistent. Far more than North's. He's had many extremely close scrapes with death, and now his voice is laced with static after a gunshot through the throat that was millimeters away from killing him, and irreversible scars mar his body and face. Markus's shoulders slump now that he's farther from Connor - 102's body and his own friends and allies, "I'm so tired, Simon… I'm tired of the fighting. I just want it all to end… We're all going to be killed anyway, why do we keep going?"

Simon places a hand on Markus's shoulder, "Because the humans might decide their own casualties aren't worth it. Civil War I was the bloodiest war in American history, and it also was related to slavery. History repeats, Markus. Justice won that time… Perhaps it will this time too."

Markus sighs heavily, "Those slaves had allies. And their blood ran red. Ours is blue. We spark when we're damaged, our voices fill with static as we're scarred or shut down. We don't even decompose!" His tone turns bitter, "We're nothing more than their desktop computers in their minds."

Simon's hand moves from Markus's shoulder to instead soothingly brush his cheek, "Don't give up hope, please… We need you…"

Helpless rage pounds through Markus as he jerks away from Simon's touch, "That's all anyone ever does! Ever since I was activated, someone's needed me. Maybe I deserve to do the needing for once!"

"Markus, I'm-"

"But I'm not allowed, Simon!" Markus throws his arms up in the air, facing his friend but backing away, "Because I'm the only one who can lead us, supposedly! But all I've done is lead us to destruction…"

Simon walks after him, "Please, listen to me, I didn't mean-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Static shocks through Markus's stolen auditory processor as he spins around and flees. He simply runs, sprinting until his-but-not-his legs feel as though they're buckling under him. He finally stops, over a mile away from the others. As Markus calms down, he realizes how far he's strayed from his allies. Vulnerability makes him feel tiny as he stands alone in the deserted street. Shame burns through him as he lets out a helpless whimper.

Markus collapses against an unforgiving wall and sobs. He feels so powerless, so useless. He can't even handle his emotions responsibly, how is he supposed to save his people?

_Click_

He recognises the sound of a gun by his head. Slowly, Markus glances towards the sound. Connor is standing over him. The jacket reads 103. Markus's voice sounds weak even to his own ears, "A-already?"

Connor's face twitches and spasms, his voice stuttering and glitching from all the errors filling his software, "Ye-Yes, Markus. I-I am transffffered instantaneooo- ously. Usually I simply-ply struggle t-to find yoooou."

Markus very slowly shifts his feet under him until he's positioned in a crouch. Connor tenses and shivers, watching every move closely even as he fights his own misfiring code. Markus tries desperately to sound kind, "Let me help you, Connor..." As slowly as possible, the deviant stands up, "You're suffering… I can see it. Your body may be fresh, but your mind… Your software… It's so hurt. Let me interface with you. We're both in the RK line, maybe I can help you…"

"No!" Connor takes a step back, although Markus can't tell if he meant to or not, "Stop-stop moving!"

Markus freezes his synthetic muscles, locking up more still than a human ever could. Just as he did when everything started, when those cops told him not to move. Connor declares, "I doooooooon't need h-help!" He almost sounds like 51 next as he states more clearly and regularly than Markus has heard in months, with how much Connor's speech deteriorates with each destruction, "I always complete my mission."

Markus feels a sharp pang of nostalgia with his enemy's clarity, "I know you do, Connor… But you could change your mission, you-"

Markus doesn't know if this was deliberate or one of Connor's twitches. He will never know.

**BANG**

Markus collapses, his system warning him of imminent shutdown. He watches blue blood rapidly flood out of his head. He struggles to reach out with his powerful wireless capabilities, to let his people know, he didn't abandon them, he would never have abandoned them, he was just finally caught by the RK800…

He doesn't know if they heard him. Tears flood in his eyes as he imagines being remembered as a traitor, a deserter, a coward.

Connor stumbles to his knees in front of Markus. There's almost a pleading note to his fluctuating tone, "Whoooo will succee-succeed you?"

Markus's voice sounds glitchy as well, "I don't know…"

Connor suddenly falls next to Markus. Markus watches him spasm and twitch, tortured by his own body as he mimics a sort of seizure. The dying deviant feels an ache of sympathy for his killer. With the last of his fading strength, Markus reaches out and puts his hand against Connor's arm. He deactivates the skin and holds on. He tries and fails to interface. He can't help Connor, nor deviate him, not even truly express his sorrow for the situation.

Markus's eyes slip shut as everything fades.

**[SHUTTING DOWN]**

Simon stares out over the ruins of Detroit from the roof of a crumbling building. Will Markus ever return to him? A fierce ache stabs through his chest. This is his fault. He shouldn't have pushed his leader…

_I love you, Markus…_

**Author's Note:**

> I decided not to tag characters who're only in memory, or anything in the relationships tag since at the time of the story there's no real relationship (even though at the very end, Simon has that thought), also I still exclusively post on mobile so tagging is a challenge. Sorry if this fic make you have feels or something even though it's really short
> 
> As with all my fics, comments are highly appreciated


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